Zain Retherford's star rises in college wrestling rankings; Penn State No. 1 once again

PSU wrestler Zain Retherford ascended in the rankings after his victory against Ohio State's Logan Stieber on Sunday.

Penn State freshman 141-pound wrestler Zain Retherford skyrocketed in this week’s individual college wrestling rankings by InterMat, Amateur Wrestling News and Flo Wrestling, jumping to the two, three and four spots in the three polls after his victory over top-ranked Logan Stieber of Ohio State on Sunday.

Retherford (11-0) previously had been ranked eighth and ninth. He is ranked behind former Bellefonte High wrestler Mitchell Port of Edinboro and ahead of Stieber in the InterMat rankings. Stieber remains No. 1 in Flo Wrestling rankings. Port and Chris Dardanes of Minnesota are 1-2 in the Amateur Wrestling News rankings.

Retherford was taken down in the first period by Stieber but escaped before Stieber could establish any riding time.

Retherford rode Stieber the entire second period and the resulting riding time point sent the bout into overtime. The former two-time PIAA champ (from Benton and Line Mountain) took down Stieber with 16 seconds left, forcing Stieber out of position after an outside single-leg shot that he converted when he gained control of Stieber's other leg at the edge of the mat.

Retherford was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday.

Penn State also is ranked as the No. 1 team, rising from third to first in Flo’s rankings and ascending past Minnesota to the No. 1 spot in the InterMat tournament power index rankings.